This invention relates to inked ribbon cartridges for mounting in a printer, typewriter or similar machine. The cartridge stores an inked ribbon, delivers it for printing purposes and stores the used ribbon.
An inked ribbon cartridge has a housing for the bulk storage of ribbon. Ribbon is threaded through the printer mechanism where it is used in printing. The used ribbon is drawn back into the housing where it is again stored. The used ribbon may be reused as is, or it may be reinked before subsequent use, or after all of the ribbon has been used once only, the cartridge can be discarded. The stored ribbon is arranged either in folded endless form or in roll form. Cartridges of this type are generally known. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,132 assigned to the assignee of the present application.
One disadvantage of many currently available cartridges is that it takes an undesirable amount of time and effort to thread the ribbon through various rollers and the like in the printer. Displacing the ribbon from the housing by routing the ribbon through laterally extending fingers helps. Oftentimes the cartridge is designed to be stationary and the print head to travel back and forth, striking the ribbon and printing characters on the print medium, and the print head travel matches the distance between the fingers. This is usually done to conserve lateral space in the printer. When the distance between the fingers is fixed, the cartridge can be used in only that printer having a corresponding or smaller print head travel length.
The used ribbon is in contact with a drive wheel located in a space in the housing unoccupied by the ribbon. As the wheel rotates, in withdraws ribbon from the supply thereof to be struck by the print head and at the same time draws ribbon already struck by the print head, into the cartridge. Means associated with the drive wheel strip the ribbon therefrom and deposit it in the housing. Sometimes the ribbon is not effectively stripped from the wheel or actually is drawn into the stripper mechanism itself, thereby creating a ribbon jam. Ribbon jams also tend to occur at the means to place the ribbon in tension.